Ralph Anderson
Ralph Anderson (ラルフ·アンダーソン, Rarufu Andāson) is a non-recurring character in Hajime no Ippo. He was an American sergeant and a world-class professional boxer, who was the main antagonist of the Post-World War II story. He largely underestimated Japanese fighters. Background After the War Arc Anderson served as a sergeant during World War II and was, before his life in the military, ranked fifth in the world for welterweight boxers. In 1947, he went to Japan where he partook in matches against the Japanese, such as Hama Dankichi, where he would mock the apparent weakness of the Japanese people and throw out merchandise on the ground for the Japanese to pick up as he looked down on them. Soon after his match against Dankichi, which left him unsatisfied, he chased a woman, who would be defended by Japanese prizefighters Kamogawa Genji and Nekota Ginpachi. The two prizefighters challenged Anderson to protect Yuki but were both beaten by Anderson's one-two and Cross Counter. Satisfied, Anderson let the woman be and left fellow soldier Miguel Zale (a fellow soldier under Anderson's jurisdiction) behind. He later officially fought Nekota again in the ring, seemingly getting overwhelmed in the first round before Nekota's previous brain damage kicked in, during which Anderson used a Rabbit punch as a last resort to worsen Nekota's brain damage and win. Kamogawa, angered at Anderson's further provocation that Japan was weak, declared that his fists have yet to be matched against Anderson, and requested a match with the latter. Anderson, believing that the Japanese weren't good at giving up, began to train his abdomen with utmost determination to defeat Kamogawa with genuine boxing skill. With Miguel advising him as a cornerman, Anderson led in the preliminary rounds, knocking Kamogawa down several times and getting frustrated at the latter's unwillingness to be defeated. He later came to somewhat respect Kamogawa, and vowed to win by knockout for his own pride and for the sake of America. Kamogawa took Anderson to the eighth round, where an accidental slip on blood caused one of Anderson's punches to lose power. In light of this, Kamogawa landed two devastating Tekkens on both sides of Anderson's rib cage, shattering the latter's ribs and causing them to pierce his internal organs. Anderson was then taken away on a stretcher, suffering a painful loss. Match History Appearance Anderson is a tall man with fair complexion and a muscular body. He has blue eyes and blond hair with bangs that hang over his forehead. Personality Anderson was a largely boastful, selfish and callous boxer. He was also characterised by his patriotism towards his own country and his openly supercilious and racist nature towards the Japanese. Anderson did not hold the country of Japan to much esteem, especially following America's recent victory against the country in the Second World War, and he sought solely to fight with its men and sleep with its women. He was also a crooked fighter who was not above using career-ending fouls among other malefic techniques if the odds were not in his favour during a fight. After his fight against Nekota however, in spite of his selfish personality, Anderson regained the "pure blood of a boxer" and trained earnestly for his then upcoming fight against Kamogawa. He mentally notes during his fight with the latter that strong Japanese men do exist, and decides not to foul against Kamogawa, redeeming himself as an honest boxer. Though he comes to respect Kamogawa for his willpower, he still saw Americans as racially superior and even considered killing Kamogawa after the latter continued getting up after being knocked down. Fighting Style A very capable boxer even with just the basics, Anderson is shown to have a very keen sense for boxing as well as a hefty advantage in physical stature and reach. He is shown to box in a very orthodox manner, but sometimes fouls using a Rabbit Punch. Techniques *Rabbit Punch *One-Two *Counter *Cross Counter *Straight *Uppercut *Artillery Strike Weaknesses Being a pugilist of exceptional skill and already being several weight-classes above his opponents, Anderson possessed very few weaknesses in his fight against Nekota and Kamogawa. Perhaps his worst weakness was merely his sheer overconfident personality and underestimation of Japanese boxers. Gallery Manga Scenes= Kamogawa and Nekota meeting Anderson.png|Kamogawa and Nekota meeting Anderson Anderson after Yuki.png|Anderson after Yuki Anderson Lands a Counter.png|Anderson landing a counter Anderson looking evil.png t1ptxt10.jpg|Anderson's Artillery Strike in the manga. |-| vs Nekota Ginpachi= Nekota vs Anderson - 01.png Nekota vs Anderson - 02.png Nekota vs Anderson - 03.png|Anderson down Nekota vs Anderson - 04.png|Anderson gettting up Nekota vs Anderson - 05.png Nekota vs Anderson - 06.png Nekota vs Anderson - 07.png Nekota vs Anderson - 08.png Nekota vs Anderson - 09.png|Hama giving Nekota advice Nekota vs Anderson - 10.png Nekota vs Anderson - 11.png|Anderson's Rabbit Punch Nekota vs Anderson - 12.png|Anderson's Rabbit Punch hits Nekota vs Anderson - 13.png|Nekota down Nekota vs Anderson - 14.png|Nekota tries standing |-| vs Kamogawa Genji= Kamogawa vs Anderson - 01.png Kamogawa vs Anderson - 02.png Kamogawa vs Anderson - 03.png Kamogawa vs Anderson - 04.png|Leaving a Fist inprint on Anderson Kamogawa vs Anderson - 05.png Kamogawa vs Anderson - 06.png|Kamogawa down Kamogawa vs Anderson - 07.png Kamogawa vs Anderson - 08.png Kamogawa vs Anderson - 09.png Kamogawa vs Anderson - 10.png|Nekota giving Kamogawa adice Kamogawa vs Anderson - 11.png Kamogawa vs Anderson - 14.png Kamogawa vs Anderson - Liver blow.png|Kamogawa landing a body Blow Kamogawa vs Anderson - 15.png|Kamogawa breaking his fist Kamogawa vs Anderson - 16.png Kamogawa vs Anderson - 17.png Kamogawa vs Anderson - Body blow 2.png|Kamogawa landing another body blow Kamogawa vs Anderson - 18.png|Anderson down Kamogawa vs Anderson - 19.png|Match over Kamogawa vs Anderson - 20.png|Zale declares Kamogawa winner |-| Anime Scenes= ralph.gif|Ralph Anderson Anderson_Seconds.png|Ralph Anderson with his seconds Anderson_Artillery_Strike_2.png|Anderson's Artillery Strike in the anime. Anderson_Artillery.png|Anderson's Right Anderson Training Hard.png|Anderson training hard for his fight against Kamogawa. Trivia *Ralph Anderson is also a character named in Baribari Densetsu (バリバリ伝説) by Shigeno Shuuichi, Morikawa was an assistant too. Ralph Anderson is a rival of the main character, Gun Koma (巨摩 郡) from America. (for more information.) References Category:Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Characters from America Category:Retired Boxers Category:Hybrid Boxers Category:Orthodox Boxers Category:Welterweights Category:All fights Win by KO